Off to the team’s best start since “Drop it Like It’s Hot” was top of the charts (2004) and winners of four in a row, the Canmore Eagles cruised to a 6-3 laugher of a win over the Calgary Canucks on Tuesday (Nov 10) at Alex Kaleta Memorial Arena.
Logan Ferguson picked up two goals and three assists, Brett Radford had two goals and two assists, and Lane Olson had four assists as the Eagles’ offence was unstoppable on the night, especially on the power play, which clicked on three of six chances.
The win catapults the Eagles into a tie for second place in the AJHL’s Southern Division. Both the Eagles and Brooks Bandits have 28 points on the season – both are five behind first place Camrose – after 22 games this season. Brooks has three games in hand.
Head coach and general manager Andrew Milne said the team’s unrelenting skating and dogged puck pursuit gave them the win, and he praised the team’s preparedness throughout the streak.
“I give credit to our staff. Bringing in assistant coach Evan McPheters has really helped us. It’s given us some time to free up and make sure we’re prepared. Our staff has been giving the guys a lot of insight into what the games are going to look like. The guys are believing in our pre-scouting, and they’re being rewarded,” Milne said.
On the ice, the Eagles utterly dominated play for the first two periods. Brett Radford got the Eagles on the board five minutes into the game with a powerplay marker, with Olson and Ferguson picking up assists.
The Eagles then received secondary scoring from their rookies, as Daylan Marchi and Jonas Gordon both scored the first goals of their AJHL career to cue the rout. Ferguson scored 17 seconds into the second period, to chase the Canucks goalie, and for good measure scored again 12 minutes later. Radford closed out Eagles scoring on the powerplay, again showing the incredible hand-eye co-ordination which made him a baseball standout in his youth.
“Our powerplay has been good. We’ve been able to move the puck very well,” Milne said.
In the third period, with the game out of reach, the third and fourth lines received a ton of valuable ice time, as the Eagles went into shutdown mode. It gave many of the players a chance to impress their coach, and Milne said they responded.
“Nick Wihak was awesome tonight. We put him out on some penalty kill situations in the third. The lines made some mistakes, but that’s how you learn. Tanaka, Noble … those guys were awesome,” Milne said “We played the heck out of the third and fourth line guys in the third and they raised their level of play. Jake Ashton and Wihak stepped up.”
One of the reasons the fourth line players haven’t seen as much ice this year is because the team has been relatively healthy. In years past, it hasn’t been uncommon for the Eagles to lose six to eight players to injury by this point in the season, and Milne credits the Rec Centre’s new gym for helping keep the team strong.
“We do a good job working off ice. The gym here is awesome. The guys are in it every day and we’re able to maintain our health. I think you’re seeing that now,” Milne said.
Captain Jakob Lavoie, whose gym game is legendary with the team, said the wins are a result of the team buying into the system.
“We’re just clicking. We’re playing the system and it’s working. You’ve got to bring it every night and we have been. That’s why we’re having success,” said Lavoie. “All the skill guys are doing their part, and all the shutdown guys are doing their part.”
The Eagles have a chance to extend their win streak this weekend as they take on the 3-17-4 Fort McMurray Oil Barons, and the 4-17-2 Calgary Mustangs. Both games are on the road.
The Eagles next home game is next Friday, Nov. 20 against the Drayton Valley Thunder. The puck drops at 7 p.m.
